The Watcher took his time catching up with them, sure that the creature would not attack him - not with the strange power it had witnessed him wield against it. He saw Jasra and Brax up ahead - she appeared to be attempting to decipher the hyroglyphs along the side of the entrance. He glanced at them, and could make them out quite well from this distance. He didn't recognize them instantly, but it wasn't hard to work them out - they were numbers, similar to ancient Dybolian.
He watched as Jasra tentatively pressed a pattern of figures, and was impressed when the doors opened. He approached them, and heard her asking Brax what seemed like a somewhat personal question. He cleared his throat gently.
*There will be time for that later, Jasra. We must locate the Shard before Kira - she cannot be allowed to touch another Shard, or she will fall under the influence of the Black Guardian. Come.*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Doctor stirred, a bright light shining in his eyes. He tried shielding his face from the harsh light, but a pair of string hands pushed them down as he was dragged to his feet.
"You will open this," a voice hissed in his ear. He saw a long, gloved finger pointing towards the TARDIS. The Doctor tried to speak, but the Shard was weakining him immensley, and he couldn't work up the strength. He was thrown to theg round roughly, and a foot met his face. "Now!"
*I........can't....* said the Doctor thickly through a bleeding nose. *The door..... can't be opened without the, uhm..... the... the key. Which your master destroyed about four hours ago.*
"Then use this," said the soldier, throwing the sonic screwriver at him.
*Not even... that can open it. Not even high grade explosives could open the door now that it's locked. Only the key...*
The soldier spat on him. "You will open it now, or you will die!"
The Doctor whimpered slightly, then tried to stand. After a few attempts, the soldier grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his feet, and threw him at the TARDIS door. The Doctor wipped the blood from his eyes, and activated the screwdriver. He tried the entire sound wave scale to try to manipulate the lock, but failed.
*You see?* he said. *It needs the key.*
"There are others, are there not?"
*No,* said the Doctor. *That was the only one.*
He knew there would be consequences if they found out he was lying - both Nyssa and Tegan had a key to the TARDIS. He just hoped they knew enough to not come after him...

Jasra could feel her face begin to flush, although she didn't know why or more importantly, how to control it. She looked at the stranger with uncertainty.

He certainly knows a lot about us," she said to Brax telepathically. "I'm not sure I trust him."

She looked at Brax for guidance on whether or not to follow this man who called himself the Watcher.

"He does, doesn't he? I wonder if he works for the droid, and I will tell you of the carving later."

"Lead on then, Watcher. If you know where it is, we need to get to it."

Jasra nodded in response to Brax's telepathic words. She felt more confident with him near her, and trusted his judgement to follow the Watcher. As they followed him through the door to the Temple, Jasra paused just at the threshold. There were more symbols on the inner side, and she ignited her lightsabre in order to see them more clearly.

There was a sentence written over the door, and a column of letters on the side. "You won't solve me. Not at all. Not ever," she read across the lintel. Then she looked at the letters on the side. "Not ever," she read from top to bottom. "Brax? I have a feeling that the door will close once we leave this first chamber." She thought about the riddle for a moment, then grinned. "Nevermind. I think I figured out how to open it."

As she stepped across the threshold and into the next room, the door to the temple shut securely behind them, just as she had expected. Holdng her lightsabre up like a torch, she proceded forward, unsure of what the temple held besides the shard.

She could feel it, pulsing like a heartbeat within her. And she knew Kira would be feeling it as well. Crystal, too. And perhaps even Karda now, as its effects seemed to be broadreaching. Strangely, Brax seemed almost immune to the shards' effects. Perhaps it was because he hadn't been directly exposed to any of them yet. Or perhaps his ability to balance the Force within him gave him some measure of immunity. Either way, Jasra felt better with him nearby.

"Seek me... the voice from her dreams hissed to her once again. "Release me... Join me...

"Can anyone else hear that?" Jasra quietly asked Brax and the Watcher. "Like a whisper?" They had reached an intersection in the passageways. "It's coming from that direction," she said leaning her lightsabre more to the left.

The Watcher nodded. *Stay here. The Shard would have untold power through either of you. Through me, it would posses nothing but trivial knowledge. Trivial for it's purposes, anyway - the Black Guardian has no need for my knowledge.*

"Black Guardian?" Jasra raised a wary eyebrow, and then looked at Brax.

"I'm sure the Doctor mentioned a Black and a White Guardian once." Jasra sent her thought to Brax. "Think this one's working with him?"

"I'm sure I've heard mention of him before," she said out loud. "From someone else," she added.

*Yes, I'm sure the Doctor has mentioned both Guardians before. And do try to keep the personal conversations in your heads more... private. I wouldn't want to overhear anything I shouldn't.*

Brax listened, "We will go with you to the shard, Watcher, we do not know if we can trust you, I assure you that we can handle the power of the shard. And your other choice is that we goon alone and you stay here in a bloody mess."

"It doesn't have to be bloody," Jasra said, switching her lightsabre to the other hand. "Lightsabres sear wounds immediately." Her comment startled her, and she frowned slightly, not knowing whether she said it out of distrust, fear, or because of the effects of the shard.

*Alright... but no one is to touch the Shard. Under any circumstances. I have brought equipment for handling the Shard. Brax, you or myself should collect it into the sealed case. Jasra is affected by it far more than us. In fact, I believe it would affect me the same way it affected the Doctor. We must be cautious. Come.*

Jasra's brow furrowed, as she followed the Watcher and Brax deeper into the tomb. "It's not affecting me that much," she pouted.

"Release me.... Join me....." the voice from her dream continued to whisper in the dimness.

"And you said you could hear those voices, too. Right?" she asked them tentatively.

"Voices?" Brax frowned, looking at her. "I just hear our voices." He paused suddenly, and turned toward a wall. "Here, passage. Jasra decipher this." She knew he could do it ... but she needed to learn, and had done well with the front door. There was a carving in the wall, though no signs of a door. A circle with the same kinds of symbols that had been around the front door, a series of 9 that repeated, in various patterns around the circle nine times.

Jasra studied the wall. "Nine symbols. Repeated nine times. One circle... but no hole for a door."

She looked at Brax for a hint, but he merley leaned non-chalantly against the opposite wall and grinned.

"No hole for a door," she repeated. "Or is it a whole?" She looked at the symbols more closely. "They're numbers again. But that one is different. Two ones. One over the other. Divide?" She gave a quick look at Brax, then grinned and proceeded to push in some of the symbols.

"Eight and one is nine. And eight and one is nine. Nine and nine next to each other is ninety nine. Ninety-nine. Divided by," she added the new symbol to the sequence, "ninety-nine equals one...." She pushed the ninth and last symbol for 'one', and the circle began to depress and rotate. "...hole."

Jasra grinned, pleased by her success, but suddenly her grin faded and worry took over. "So, you don't hear the voice?" she asked Brax. "It whispers to me. Asks for release." She paused. "Asks me to join it."

He watched her figure it out. "Good job, and no I don't hear the voice. Could it be the crystal itself calling to you?" He frowned, and motioned for her to move aside, there was a lip along the top of the hole in the wall, and he grabbed it, lifting himself up and sitting down on the edge. "Let's keep moving, if the voice keeps talking, let us know what it says." The hole had turned into a slide of sorts and he released the lip, sliding down.

The Watcher stepped up to the whole, and looked down. "I'm not sure how deep it is. Perhaps we should wait and see if Brax has survived. You can sense him, correct?"

"And so will you, if you don't step aside."
The snap-hiss of a lightsaber filled the chamber, and a blue blade appeared from the darkness, inches from Brax's neck. A moment after, Kira seemed to fade in from the shadows, her eyes glinting.
"Maybe you weren't as fast as I thought you were, if I was able to catch up with you so easily." her eyes flicked to Jasra for a moment. "Back to your traitorous ways, I see."

"Cloudy, cloudy, starless, black..." Crystal murmured, literally appearing out of nowhere. "Angry thoughts confuse her, frighten her... twisted, we all are." She stared at the Watcher for a moment, eyeing him quizically before continuing in a slightly more panicked voice. "Untwist... Untwist!"

(I am really confused ... Brax just took a slide into a chamber that is down below were the watcher and jasra are, so unless we're assuming that they followed, how is Kira looking at Jasra while threatening Brax?)

((Erm...me, too. Confused, that is. ;) I was actually waiting for the Doctor to edit his post (because that's how I understood his OOC message) so maybe he'll edit Jasra and the Watcher to slide down the tunnel after Brax. Doctor?))

Edited. Sorry about that, chief.

Brax stood motionless for a few moments, then shifted his weight, and was somehow standing a few feet farther away. His gauntlets glowing his eyes staring at Kira.

"Are you ready now then? Jasra wanted me to wait, but here is as good a place as any to kill you."

((OOC: Sorry for the confusion, guys. I was away for the weekend, and when I got back yesterday I didn't have time for a longer post, so I didn't really post as Kira following you guys. But...well...she did. Obviously :xp: And with Crystal's powers, it would have been far easier for the pair to bypass those puzzles and catch up.))

IC:

As Kira's muscles tensed, she stared at the alien.
"I'm ready, though I'm not so sure it will be my blood that will spill today."
As she shifted, she felt the metal tube housing the Shard press against her skin. Her reassurance was in there. She was more than ready.

The Doctor struggles to stand, collapsing onto his knees. He could feel Kira. Through the Shards, he could feel her anger as if it were his own - and what he felt terrified him.
He crawled on his knees back to the TARDIS, and pulled himself to a kneeling position. He tried once again opening the door, knowing full well that it wasn't going to open. But he had to keep trying - it was the only thing keeping him sane at this point.
He fumbled in his pockets for a DNA encoder - and found it destryoed, most likely crushed as he was thrown around like a bag of potatoes.
He collapsed to the ground again, the Shard in his pocket weakwning him. He had tried taking it out, but was always beaten when he did. He had no choice but let it kill him slowly as he waited for Kira to come for him - or the Shard. Either way, he would be rid of the pain.
He grimaced as a fresh wave of nausea broke over him. He could sense Kira's hatred rising. She was giving in to her base emotions - giving in to the Dark Side. He could practically see her eyes glowing in the dark - before he realized that a pair of deep yellow eyes actually were staring at him through the dark.
*Wh... Who.... are... you...?* he asked.
The eyes moved closer, revealing a thin, aging body with a lanky form emerged from the shaodws. His face was that of an old man - possibly 80 years old, it was difficult to tell - and the Doctor saw kindness in his eyes.
"That blue box isn't opening, son," he said gently. "Best conserve your energy."
He came up to him, lowering a water bottle to his lips. "Drink up. You look like you could use it."
The Doctor drank, savouring the feeling of the liquid coating his throat, stripping off the layers of dried blood.
*Thank you...* said the Doctor faintly.

Kira leaped back, her limbs moving with the grace of a born hunter. She crouched, her saber lowered, her eyes glowing with golden anticipation. Her lips curved upward, parted slightly to reveal the glimer of fangs beneath her lips. "Now then, if you're ready..."

~*~*~

"Where are we going?" Disciple asked as he pushed away yet another branch of yet another plant, "It seems as if we've been walking forever. Surely Kira wouldn't have allowed us to land too far from the Shard."
"Damn it." Atton murmured, and he jogged ahead, thinking to find Kira and Crystal, who had taken the lead. "Hey, Kira--"
He looked around. There was no one there. "Kira?" he called, "Crystal?" No answer. He paced forward, and found a small opening in the foliage where hanging vines had been cut away. Judging by the slight singe on the edges of said vines, they were severed by a lightsaber. As he stepped beneath them, a large, ancient temple came into view. "Double damn."
That temple was where they had gone. He could sense it.

Tegan swore under her breath as another branch, moved by Atton, smacker her in the face. She heard him calling Kira's name, then begin cursing.
"What?" she asked, Nyssa coming up behind her. "Atton, what is it?"

"Always." Brax's fingers flexed, his hands antipiating tearing into Kira's flesh. He paused a moment though, looking at Jasra and Crystal. "This is our fight. Do not interfere." He looked back at Kira, and his hands falling back, he launched himself at her ... his hands coming up as he moved forward ina blur, slapping at her lightsaber as she swung at him, deflecting he blows, but she as deftly defelected each of his own blows. The room was fairly open, letting them room to fight properly.

"It's Kira and Crystal," Atton said, "They're gone. And I think that temple is where they went."

~*~*~

Kira continued to attack and defend against Brax, her body moving through the several diffeerent positions of the Shien form, though she seemed unable to break through his defenses and get a clean shot at him. With those gauntlets, he was using a form of hand-to-hand that she had never seen before, and Shien obviously wasn't able to better it. Half her attention on the attacking alien, the Jedi Exile glanced around the room. It did seem big enough...
She caught the claws of Brax's gauntlets on her saber blade once more, and pushed him back as she rolled away herself. When she stood again, her stance changed as she slipped into Ataru.
"Let's see if you can hit what you can't catch." she sneered, and then leapt at him again.

As Jasra stood there watching Kira and Brax fight, she heard the voice from her dreams once again.

"Seek...me...." it hissed softly. "Join...me...."

She turned in the direction she thought it was coming from. A large, rectangular carving standing upright against the far wall. Slowly, as if in a trance, she moved towards it, ignoring Kira, Brax and everyone else in the chamber.

She stood in front of it for a moment, then her eyes were drawn to a particular carving. A figure, with lightning streaming from his fingertips and a shining medallion around his neck.

"Release...me...." the voice whispered. "Free...me. Join...me."

She laid her hand against it, and immediately felt crushed by an unseen force. As she gasped for breath, the voice said, "Worship...me!" and she was thrust down to her knees.

The rectangle began to move, stone scraping against stone, opening to reveal a tomb. And the ghostly figure of Exar Kun standing in front of it.

Without warning, Force Lightning streamed from his hands, hitting all in the room with extreme waves of pain, while the apparition chortled with maniacal laughter.

"Serve me, slaves, or die!" commanded Exar Kun. The spirit turned to look at Jasra's kneeling form, his eyes glowing embers in his distorted ethereal head. "Join with me, Apprentice of Darkness," he said to her. "Let me teach you and satisfy your thirst for knowledge. Let the Dark Side consume you. Or die trying to resist it!"

Pain. It was all Kira could feel. Her thoughts were silenced, lungs crushed, and muscles paralized as she collapsed to the ground under the onslaught. But she had to get up. She had to finish Brax and retrieve the last two Shards.
"Serve me, slaves, or die!"
Her head spinning from the exertion, the Exile forced her head up so that she could find the one who had spoken. The figure was ethreal...a ghost, maybe? Her vision blurred, and the voice continued, but she couldn't pay attention to what was said. Her head was on fire, and her head dropped back to the ground as darkness threatened to take her. But it didn't. She wouldn't allow it. She had to rise. She had to beat this!

The Watcher struggled against the agony into a standing position, his muscles screaming in painful protest. He managed to open his eyes. The misty figure of Exar Kun swam in front of him.
*I... will.... not... submit...* he yelled.
Exar Kun smiled. "You cannot resist me, Time Lord!"

Get UP!
That's when she felt it. A twinge in the Force.
He has it! she thought. The Shard is so near...he must have it!
Her muscles stained, her body protested, but Kira slowly and carefully forced herself to her knees, then into a crouch, and finally to her feet. "B-Bastard!" slipped through her lips as she stummbled closer to the figure. "The Shard. Give me the Shard."

Brax frowned, as he was wracked with pain, as this apperition dared to interfere with his fight. He growled in his throat. .. letting his anger fuel him. His body rippeling with anger and passion. He looked at Kira. "Let us work togethor, and kill this apperition, then continue our fight."

Jasra felt like she was slowly being crushed by a heavy weight. She couldn't barely breathe, much less move, and she began to feel anger well up inside of her because of it.

Remembering what Brax had taught her about channelling her emotions, she let her anger fuel the Force, fighting against whatever Force was pinning her down.

"Good," she heard Exar Kun said. "You are strong. Your 'teacher' taught you well. But he has not taught you enough!"

Her world became solid pain, as Force Lightning pummelled her and everyone else in the room for a second time. She saw Brax and Kira both cringe as they struggled against the attack.

"Join with me," Exar said to Jasra, as he approached her prone form. "Join with me and together, we will defeat our opponents and rule the Galaxy once again!"

Jasra tried to scream for help from Brax, but all that came out was barely perceptible squeak. She felt the Darkness surround her, Death closing in on her as the spirit of Exar crushed her into submission.

"I... I... yield... to your... power," she managed to say, thinking that it was the only way to save her life. "Yours... is... superior. Master."

Just then a wave of power flowed into her, and she felt like she was being pushed aside within her own body. But at least she could breathe again. Except...she was no longer in control of her body.

~~~~~

As the spirit of Exar Kun dissipated, Jasra rose from the ground. Her eyes glowed amber, the spirit of Exar Kun now in control of her body.

"Submit to me," Exar said to Kira and Brax, in a slightly more hollow voice than Jasra's own. Her hand extended and a lightsabre that had previously belonged to Exar Kun shot up out of a hole in the floor, flying into her hand. She flicked it on, flourishing the double red blades as if she were a well seasoned Jedi Master. "Or die." She flexed her gauntlets, steadying her grip, ready to take them both on.

The Watcher rose, his head pounding. He could hear voices, but couldn't make sense of the words. They were all jumbled and confused. He heard what sounded somewhat like Jasra speaking, but couldn't respond.
Forcing his mind to function, the world slowly began to make sense, colours, smells, and textures all sorting themselves out. He heard Jasra speaking again.
"Submit to me. Or die."
He lifted his head, and saw her - a red lightsaber in hand, bearing down on a defenseless Kira and Brax. He stood, shaking the fog out of his vision.
"Stand down, Kun. Do not make me fight you."
He laughed through Jasra's mouth, his own voice speaking along with hers. "You are nothing, Time Lord. You are a small creature. I am a being supreme power! I shall become all pow-"
"All powerful! Crush all resistance! Unlimited power! Unlimited strength! Unlimited rice pudding! I've heard it all before! All you meglomaniacs are the same!"
"You dare mock me?!" he said, ignoring Kira and Brax and focusing his attention on him. "I will show you the price for toying with me!" He raised Jasra's hand, throwing a volley of Force lightining at him.
This time, the Watcher was ready for it. He threw his hand up, and the lightining hit his palm. It rebounded off his hand, shooting in random directions and trajectories. Kun stopped his attack.
"You are powerful indeed, even for a Time Lord. But you cannot stop me! In the end, you are just another Time Lord!"
The Watcher smiled. "Oh no, my friend. I am far more than 'just another Time Lord'," he said.

In response to Brax's offer, Kira grabbed his wrist, and used him as leverage to force herself up to a standing position. Then, with a series of small screams as the Force lightning continued to assult her body, she forced him to his feet.
"I-If we attack him physically...we'll just e-end up hurting Jasra; nothing m-more...W-we h-have to force h-him out of her." she was able to choke out.

Crystal was curled up in a ball, groaning. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Then, she vanished. Less than a second later, she reappeared, this time in a different place and on her feet, lightsaber activated. "Girl's mind is messy," she said, "but she knows the mind."

She stared at Jasra for a moment and then giggled slightly. "Jazzy's mind messier than Chrissy-girl!"

Quickly, she went serious again. "A mind for mental jobs, Chrissy-girl has. She'll help as best she can with a messy mind to unmess Jazzy."

"Your Jedi ways will not get him out of her." Brax said, helping her keep her balance. His anger and his pain fueling him ... "Let me in your mind, let me show you how to use all this pain to fuel us and drive him out." He looked at her, "It is the only way Kira."

The Watcher smiled. "Oh no, my friend. I am far more than 'just another Time Lord'," he said.

"We shall see," said Exar/Jasra. Instead of using Force Lightning on the Watcher, Exar used it again on Kira and Brax. "You like seeing your companions suffer, Time Lord? Like watching their life force ebb from their bodies?"

As soon as his attack was over on them, Jasra turned towards Crystal who was clutching her sabre with its pinkish-red blade glowing, ready to fight.

"And you..." Exar said to her. "Your friend is lost to you. She's given herself to me now."

Jasra lept into the air in an impressive aerobatic display of Force enhanced skill, coming to land directly in front of Crystal. Exar flourished the red double-bladed sabre and their duel began.

"My friend is not lost," Crystal argued, lashing out with her saber, sounding surprisingly sane. That was short-lived however, as she added, "She's tapping away at the corners of consciousness, a reluctant caged girl."

"She did not give," Crystal went on, driving Exar/Jasra back with quick, powerful blows. "You took what is not yours."

Telekinetically, Crystal lifted Exar/Jasra and held them there. "I'll get her back, thief!"

With her mind, she prodded the 'private road' between her mind and Jasra's. Within seconds, she was in and stood mentally face to face with Exar Kun. This Crystal was the original Crystal, before the shards twisted her into the blonde with a twist in her mind.

"You're not meant to be here," she said. "I'll kick you out."

And she pounced...

((This last bit is taking place in Jasra's mind.))

"Silly girl!" Suspended in mid-air, Jasra's body struggled to move against the Crystal's telekinetic hold. But Exar had a trick up his proverbial sleeve. Only able to make Jasra move a single finger, it was enough for him to project the Force to depress a small circular stone button in the panel that had covered his tomb.

A secret panel slowly slid open, and a pair of red eyes gradually began to glow from within the darkened hollow.

The howl of the Night Beast filled the stale air in the chamber, mingling with the maniacal laugh of Exar Kun, as the Beast emerged from its hiding place into the pale artificial light of the temple chamber.

Inside Jasra's mind, Exar charged to meet Crystal head on, locking his grip on her. "She's mine!" Exar growled, as the two struggled for control. Using Jasra's energy to boost his own, Exar gave a mighty push, sending Crystal backwards. "And no puny, mortal girl is going to take what is mine away from me!"

Crystal's hold on Exar/Jasra suddenly broken, Jasra's body plummeted from the air, landing gracefully in a cat-like crouch. Her hand shot up and pointed towards Crystal, but instead of Force Lightning, Crystal was raised and hurled through the air, coming to land directly in front of Exar's tomb and the dreaded Night Beast. The Beast's teeth gleamed in the faint light, as it snarled and crouched, ready to pounce.

"Play with that, telepath," Exar hissed. With Jasra's hand still extended, Exar called his lightsabre back through the Force to her grip, charged the blades, and whirled around to face Kira and Brax. "I hope you're enjoying the show, Time Lord," Exar said, "because there is little time left for your friends."

The Watcher moved forward, between Crystal and the beast. "Crystal - free Jasra. I will deal with this abomonation."
He pulled a long, thin instrument from his pocket - a sonic screwdriver. He activated it, filling the room with a high pitched squeel.
The NIght Beast roared, only aggravated by the device. "Brax? A small bit of assistance would be greatly appreciated!"

Brax frowned, and gave a glance to Exar/Jasra, then he looked at Kira. "Help her." He turned then, and leapt toward the beast ... his claws glowing an angry red, the red of death, and blood. His body nearly glowed with the pain he was channeling through himself. His claws struck flesh, but so did the beasts ... Brax grunted with pain as the claws tore into his leg ... his blood, a blueish purple, spilled out onto the floor ... the beasts, a dark red, nearly black, splattered among it, as Brax's claws tored into his neck.

Brax twisted away ... hitting the ground with both legs, but his hurt leg collapsed under him, and he fell to his knee. Growling, his grey eyes locked on the beast ... who was screaming bloody murder at the blue skinned devil. Brax pushed up, focusing his anger and pain and ignoring it ... he leapt again ... the beast swung as he leapt, and claws dug into Brax's chest and side ... he called out in pain ... but his own claws sunk into eyes. And the best fell backwards a few steps ... as Brax dug deep into the beast and into his brain, nearly black blood flooded out of the deep wounds, thick like molasses it oozed over brax and onto the floor around him.

Brax pushed up somehow ... and took a few steps away ... and then he was on the floor.

((I'm going to invent some anatmoy for Brax now. Let me know if you need anything changed.))

The Watcher ran to Brax's side. He examined the wounds, ignoring Brax's protests. "You're bleeding internally, and one set of lungs has been punctured. Your third heart has been torn apart. I need to get you back to my TARDIS, or you'll never survive."

As Brax and 'The Watcher' moved to fight the Night Beast, Kira stood tall and bold, staring Exar/Jasra down, her grip on her saber cemented.
"I know you're still in there, Jasra!" she said, her eyes locked with hers, "You may have stolen the body, Exar, but the mind is still hers! She is my apprentice. I demand that you release her now!"

Exar laughed, and flourished his double-sabre. "You? A Master?" He laughed again. "The double-bladed sabre was my own invention. I am the Master. And as for, you... you will either be my slave...." He did a vaulting leap into the air, landing feet away from Kira in a battle stance. "Or my victim."

Inside her own mind, Jasra struggled to untangle her thoughts from the suffocating golden strands of the shard, now mixed together with the blackened, oppressive mass that she knew to be Exar's tainted spirit. Her own thoughts were clouded, but she could still sense and hear what was going on around her. She was just powerless to take control of her own body and do anything about it. She needed a guide. Someone to show her the way out.

"Not without Jasra," Brax said ... blood stained his lips, as he pushed himself to a half standing position. His eyes locked on the 'time lord's' for a moment. "Help me stand up." He said, putting a hand out ... the gauntlet dull and uncharged ... taking the Watcher's hand and pulling himself to his feet.

"Jasra," He called, "Exar ... whatever you are, Release her." He closed his eyes, and using the pain he felt ... the horrible pain caused by his life rapidly bleeding out of him. He knew he would be dead soon. His mind lashed out ... his body struggeling for life, a vision of ghostly blue snaked out of Brax's chest ... looking like him, and launched into Jasra. The Watcher felt Brax colapse against his side.

Brax was dead in the watcher's arms.

But his life force strove on, a few words whispered to Kira as the ghostly viassage passed her. "Go to Omwat, seek out the Zedai, there is a way to get the man you loved back, with the stones." Then his life force slammed into Exar ... for an instant Exar's own life force could be seen reeling back a little, but then both plunged into the body again ... "Jasra, I will fight him in you, but you have to find your way out."

"Go to Omwat, seek out the Zedai, there is a way to get the man you loved back, with the stones."
Kira's eyes widened at the words of Brax's...ghost? Spirit?
To get the man I loved back...Revan? It...it couldn't be...
With a jolt, she came back to her senses, taking on the task at hand.
"Well, it seems you're under attack from two fronts now, Exar." she said, her eyes glinting. A battle cry tore from her lips, and she charged Exar/Jasra. Simultaneously, she slipped through a gap in Jasra's mental barrier, and contacted her.
Jasra, you have to fight him off. Brax can battle his hold on your mind, and I can battle his hold on your body. But you have to be the one to force him out!

(Just a note, I'll post 2-3 more times, but Brax is dead. He won't be coming back. I feel that he best serves the story by sacraficing himself to save Jasra, I'll keep up witht he story though! I really enjoyed the whole rp, and might drag some other character in.)

((Oh, he'll be back. I can't explain without ruining the planned ending, but trust me - he'll be back.))

The Watcher allowed Brax to fall gently to the ground. He tryed to register a pule, but failed. Brax was dead.
He stood slowly - two of this galaxy's greatest individuals had been killed, and a third was in danger of being killed by the disembodied soul of a Sith Lord. This had to be stopped...

((OOC: Well, there is always the possibility of a sequel, 3yks! ;) ))

Seeing the body of her teacher Brax lying lifeless on the ground, Crystal unconscious near the Watcher, and with Brax's spirit and Kira urging her to fight from within, Jasra summoned up all her anger, all her fear, all of her feelings of abandonment, her hate, her love, her wants, her desires, everything that she ever felt or was going to feel into one gigantic pool of Force Energy.

“I. Will. Not. Lose. Another… “ She exploded her energy into one mighty push against the surrounding Blackness that was Exar Kun. “…MASTER!”

In mid-swing of Exar’s double-bladed sabre, Jasra suddenly let out a scream that could be heard outside the Temple itself. The ghostly spirit of Exar Kun was flung from her body with such force that it was a mere hazy blur, reforming on the opposite side of the room.

But Jasra wasn’t finished with him yet. Using Brax’s life force inside her, she rushed towards the tomb, lightsabre blazing.

Exar’s ghost held up his hands. “Noooo!” he howled.

But it was too late. Jasra sliced through his sarcophagus with one swing, and decapitated his decaying corpse with the follow through.

Exar’s ghost began to slowly dissolve. “You weaken me, but you cannot kill me! Not ever….” his voice faded into the darkness.

With heaving breaths and sweat beading on her brow, Jasra stood in front of Exar’s corpse. For a moment, all was silent. Then Jasra bent down and lifted the pendant from the place Exar’s neck used to connect to his head.

It was the shard.

She clutched it in her hands, basking in its power, then, slowly, turned to face Kira.

Without a word, and with her eyes now blazing the same colour of gold, Jasra approached Kira. “I believe this is yours,” she said, holding out her hand then letting the shard drop and dangle from its chain. “Master.”